he crosses the room to light a candle on a couple’s table for two. T ey can hear him muttering “Prego! Prego!” in his thick, Italian accent, and realize that an enchanting experience has only just begun. Locals and travelers alike are in for a treat at this authentic

Italian restaurant. T e attention to detail and friendly atmosphere are two of the many things that make the cozy bistro special. Removed from the city center, Osteria Il Golfo is tucked away

between the Nymphenburg Palace and the Hirschgarten, the largest traditional beer garden in the world. Petra-Alexa Heinze lives around the corner from Osteria’s and has been eating there since it opened. “[Osteria has] been here for 10 years now, and I have never

had anything I didn’t like,” she said. With a smile Heinze added that in the summer, “You can sit

on our balcony and actually smell it. You just know you have to go here, because it’s just so good... If you close your eyes, it just smells like being in Italy.” Heinze has met several people from visiting Osteria regularly,

including Eric dal Molin. He has been coming to Osteria’s about two times a week for six years and had a lot to say about head chef Fracesco “Franco” Panza’s cooking. “He is my god,” dal Molin said. “I stopped buying things at

the store.” Panza is a fi rst-generation chef from Matera, Italy, and was

trained by an Italian master chef in Germany when he was only 20. He cooks his food in the style of southern Italy, but Heinze says “It’s a Franco special,” meaning that he puts his own twist on each dish. Dal Molin added, “He knows what he’s doing!” Dal Molin says that the best time to come is Sunday for lunch.

“Oh wow, the sunshine comes in right here through those windows,” he said. “[T ere is] almost nobody here, because the Germans don’t enjoy Sunday lunches, or they enjoy it at home with family.” Osteria Il Golfo is one of many Italian restaurants in Bavaria.

60| ALPINE LIVING 2011

Panza’s take on ‘lava cake’ is a favorite of the locals. Chocolate tortino dessert served warm with mango and strawberries.

“Italian food [in Germany] is very good because Italy is very close, and you have real Italians cooking for you,” Heinze said. “I like Italian food in general, but [Franco] is very creative.” Panza’s creativity in the kitchen is something that sets Osteria

apart from the rest. Panza has been known to create special, off - the-menu items for any of his guests. “He always comes up with

something creative if you ask him,” Heinze said. “So if you see tiramisu on the menu but you don’t really want it, and you ask him if [he has] anything special for dessert, he will just make it and create something for you.” It’s places like this that have

the locals coming back for more. Guests are treated like family, and friendly charm fi lls the restaurant’s walls from table to table. It is a place to fi nd exquisite, authentic Italian food where strangers don’t stay strangers for very long.